Gasly: The most dangerous Magnussen put me in the wall at 300kph

Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly was nearly touched into the wall at speeds approaching 300kph following Haas F1 ace Kevin Magnussen tried to block him from passing off the final restart in Baku for Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Gasly has tagged his opponent Magnussen the “most dangerous” driver he’s ever raced against, with video footage released by F1 showing the jaw-dropping collision between the pair at nearly 300kph.

The duo dropped down the order and out of the top ten following a heart-stopping moment four laps from the chequered flag as the race restarted following the final safety car period, with Gasly furious at what he perceived to be a deliberate move to block him from passing on the run to Turn One.

“Kevin is the most dangerous guy I have ever raced with,” blasted Gasly. “He literally put me in the wall at 300 kph at the re-start and completely ruined the race. I would have been in the worst case P10 at the last restart, so this is one thing.

“The Safety Car came out, we pitted and were P11. I knew points were on the table. I was going to pass him just before the Safety Car line 1, went on the side, and he just put me in the wall right in the middle and took half of my floor out.

“Both my front wheels went in the air, broke my right mirror and bent my steering as well. After that I was just trying to survive until the end of the race. There was almost no point to race after that.”

Along with the time penalty, Magnussen was awarded two penalty points on his licence, taking his tally to eight for the last 12 months. As per the regulations, he will receive an automatic one-race ban if he reaches 12 points in a one-year period.

“The driver of car 20 (Magnussen) moved unpredictably and unnecessarily to the left and collided with car 10 (Gasly) which was maintaining its direction,” read the stewards’ document.

But, Gasly was unhappy with a second move shortly after and went to see the FIA’s F1 Race Director Charlie Whiting after the race.

“What Kevin did today was incorrect and he was duly penalised for it,” said Whiting. “What Pierre was complaining about was he appeared to have done it again after the first contact.”

Magnussen admitted the mistake for the high-speed accident, but claimed that he was unable to see the rapidly-approaching Toro Rosso that had gained an advantage from using the large slipstream on offer down the Baku straight.

“I had so many vibrations in the car that the mirrors were useless, I couldn’t see anything at all,” said Magnussen, who went on to receive a 10-second time penalty that dropped him to 13th – one place behind Gasly.